Thanatos didn't fly far, not with Dalia still dangling from his claw the way she was. He entered a tunnel, maybe a hundred feet up, that led away from the arena, and when they reached the first cave he simply dropped her on the floor before landing himself.

Henry remembered how the flier had dropped him in a similar manner, back when they had first met and he had carried him away from the bottom of the cliff.

She shrieked and when Henry mounted down to approach her, he realized they were standing in complete darkness. He could perceive his surroundings well, but Dalia was probably scared out of her mind.

When the torch he had lit finally illuminated the cave, he could see her face for the first time. Expressions weren't really what he focused on when he used sounds to see.

She was staring at him with widened eyes, fear and uncertainty were written all over her face. Henry saw the purple bags under her eyes had grown and she looked haggard, almost like a walking corpse.

When he took a step towards her, she stumbled backward, until her back hit the wall. She cried in surprise before pressing herself against it, not leaving him out of her sight.

She is scared of me, Henry realized and wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that.

"We will not take our anger out on you if that is what you fear", Thanatos suddenly spoke, approaching her from the other side. Her head jolted in his direction, then back to Henry.

The exiled prince saw Dalia was shaking. "You... why did you... save me?" Her voice sounded quiet and meekly.

He exchanged a glance with Thanatos and hesitated. Why... did he save her? Truthfully, Henry didn't really know himself. There was just something about this entire situation, that... resonated with him. He knew he wasn't sympathizing with her or thought she deserved mercy. But then, why did he save her?

Suddenly he knew. "Because... I want to know the reason."

Dalia widened her eyes even more at first, before angrily squinting them again. "Why would you care?"

"I cared enough to risk my life by saving you", he shot back.

She was silent for a moment. "That is... exactly what I don't understand. Longclaw told me –"

"Longclaw is dead", Henry simply stated, "and so is, who I presume was your best friend, Tonguetwist."

Dalia gasped and stared at him in shock again. "W... what? How...?"

"We killed them. That's how", Thanatos chuckled a little, "oddly enough it was thanks to you that we could. Because you freed us."

Henry looked back at her and saw she was clenching her fist. "Why did you do that? What was the plan?", he shot at her, suddenly furious again.

Dalia swallowed and looked to the floor. "There was no plan. I just...", Henry noticed tears had risen in her eyes. She sunk to the floor until she was sitting in the same position in which they had found her in the pit, legs pulled to her chest, not looking at them.

"You realized they had lied." It wasn't a question Henry asked, it was a statement. "You realized whatever they had promised you was false and that they would kill you anyway. That you had traded your loyalty for nothing. And you had nothing to lose."

She looked up at him, Henry saw the tearstains on her cheeks. "You... I... I wanted to..."

"Why?", Henry now kneeled before her, torch in hand, firmly holding her gaze. "I need to know... why. Everyone has a reason. You do too. What is it? What is your story?", quieter he added, "I'm most likely the only one who will listen to it anyway. Or do you think any of them will care, back in civilization?"

She sobbed, angrily wiping away her tears. "Civilization? How would I even get back there?", she hesitated, "What reason do you have to take me there? You are an outcast, you have no allegiance to the Fount or the humans in general, do you?", she laughed dryly, staring at him with bitter resolve, "you only went on this quest to kill Longclaw. Don't... ACT like you're ANY BETTER THAN ME!"

Her words struck a nerve, Henry attempted to keep his collected face up, he cared little for her noticing her words had phased him. Because in truth... she wasn't wrong. What... right did he... HE, out of all people, have, to judge her or decide her fate?

"I just want to know why, that's all", his voice was cold now and he averted his gaze, "Why would you... throw away everything you have like this? What did they offer you to make it seem worth it?"

To his surprise, Dalia snorted. "Throw away everything I have? That's a good question and all, but it kind of becomes pointless when you consider I never... had anything to throw away."

Henry turned in her direction. "You... you must have had something... a family at least?"

Dalia scoffed but averted her eyes. "The only true family I have is my brother whom I had to leave with a distant relative when I left Regalia to...", she bit her lip and suddenly looked at him again. Henry had barely ever seen so much bitterness in someone's eyes before.

"Do you think I... LIKE working for them? Do you think it is FUN to babysit a snotty, spoiled BRAT almost constantly, while being treated like SHIT by everyone and getting paid so little you have to send it all back to Regalia for your brother, to buy him an education so that he can have a better life than yourself?"

Her voice got louder and louder the more she talked – "I have been working my ass off every day for those people for YEARS, but do they ever show any sort of appreciation for what I am doing? No – all they do is nag, blame me when the brat gets in trouble, and load even more work on me! I have HAD it with being treated like this, all I wanted was enough money to be able to finally leave them and afford a better life for me and Ian – I haven't even seen him more than a couple times over the five years I have worked at the Fount – is THIS THE STORY YOU WANTED TO HEAR?"

She was nearly screaming by the end of it, Henry saw the tears streaming out of her eyes and her fists were angrily clenched. "I hate my life... every second of it. The only reason I haven't ended it yet is Ian..."

Henry was frozen in place, staring at her in shock. He had expected something entirely different. Something similar to his own story, but this... He knew Stellovet was usually not easy to be around, let alone responsible for, but he hadn't even considered Dalia could feel mistreated.

His thoughts inadvertently went back to when he himself still had had servants. He had not wasted a single thought on whether they liked their work or what consequences his own behavior had had for them.

It was a story like he had never heard before, and yet it was most likely not just Dalia's, but that of many.

"And Tonguetwist approached you... and offered you a way out?", his voice was hushed.

Dalia did not look at him. "We met during one of mine and Stellovet's trips to the lake. She behaved especially badly that day, she played a prank on me at the end of which I was subtracted an entire month's wage. I didn't... want to talk to a rat at first, but..."

"... But she talked her way into your heart, twisted your thoughts and viewpoints until she had almost complete control over you. Let me guess – something along the lines of "you are better than this" and "you deserve much more than life gives you" – over "helping us kidnap Stellovet will feel satisfying after all she had done to you" to "help us lure the future queen into a trap and we will reward you with enough money to buy yourself the life you and your brother deserve"."

Dalia stared at him in shock, most likely at how accurate his guesses had been. "You...", suddenly her eyes widened, "you... know her, don't you?"

Henry sighed. "We were... old... acquaintances", he gritted his teeth, "She needed to finally die before she could ruin any more lives."

Dalia remained silent for a moment, before starting to nervously knot her hands. "You... you were... like me..."

Henry averted his eyes. "Oh no. I was not like you. Not even remotely."

Her look was questioning, and he continued – "You said it yourself, you did it because you had nothing to lose. I... I risked and lost... everything."

It was hard to remain calm at how pointless his own reason compared to hers had been. She was not so much older than him, yet the things she had had to worry about and deal with, Henry had never had the reason to bother with. He felt like a child just talking to her.

"But... if you did this because the rats promised you money to support your family, I still don't understand why you... freed us in the end", Thanatos suddenly spoke and Dalia bit her lip.

"You realized they were not planning to keep their word", Henry repeated what he had assumed earlier. He chuckled dryly – "Never trust a rat. I learned that the hard way... and I guess so did you."

"Except for Ripred", Thanatos interrupted and Henry rolled his eyes. "Of course."

"... and Kismet", the flier continued, "and –", the exiled prince shushed him, slightly annoyed – "Okay, okay I get it, some rats can be trusted, but THAT'S NOT THE POINT NOW."

Dalia remained silent, only after a few quiet moments she finally asked – "So... what are you planning to do with me now...?"

Henry and Thanatos exchanged glances. "There are really only two options", the exiled prince pondered, "we can take you back to the Fount to receive your just sentence – or we can leave you here."

"So I die in any case", her voice was dry and almost apathetic, like she had already accepted her fate. "Executed in Regalia or die here, by whatever means."

Henry put his hands to his hips. "That is the fate of traitors. Execution... or exile."

Around two hours had passed when Henry, Dalia, and Thanatos were sitting at the lake, eating fish. The exiled prince was mindlessly twirling around his old dagger that he had decided to go and fetch from Longclaw's camp. And they had not just found the dagger – looting the place had turned out extremely profitable, the rats had stored tons of goods.

And then there had been Gorger's... Luxa's father's... old crown. Apparently, Longclaw had not just found Henry's dagger with the king, the human crown he had also taken, presumably already in preparation for crowning himself king someday. It was now safely stored in his backpack, Henry had decided it would be for the best to take it back to the Fount and give it to Luxa... where it belonged.

The only thing he and Thanatos were still unsure about was whether to take Dalia with them or not. She had not expressed a preference so far, and yet Henry had a feeling she did not like the thought of being sentenced to death by the very people she despised so much.

Henry was in the process of dissecting a fish with Mys when Dalia finally asked for the dagger. He had seen her staring at it during the quest, but she had never made a remark about it.

"Is... that the tooth of a gnawer?", she scooted a little closer, inspecting Mys more thoroughly.

Henry smiled a little. "Not just any gnawer too. This –", he narrowed his eyes, tracing the curve of the blade with a finger, his voice dripping with spite, "is the tooth I hacked off the rotting carcass of the rat that had tried to drag me with him over the edge of a cliff to death after I had tried everything in my power to help him. It's the tooth of king Gorger."

Dalia's eyes widened in shock. "You... you... so you were..."

"... a traitor? We already knew that, didn't we?"

Suddenly it crossed Henry's mind it might have not been the smartest idea to tell her that. What if they ended up taking her back and she told everyone? He would never be able to show his face to them again.

A minute of silence went by, in which the only sound was the quiet crackling of the fire.

"You... you fell off a cliff... with king Gorger?", Dalia's voice was hushed and Henry suddenly wondered if he had told her too much.

"But the only one who...", she paused for a second and when Henry looked at her, her eyes were big and round. "... You are... but, that is impossible... you have to be... Prince... Henry...!"

He winced at the name and Thanatos' head jolted up from where he had lied and rested. "How...?", but she didn't let the flier finish. Her entire face looked like she could almost not believe her own words, yet she continued talking – "Everyone knows the story, he... you... fell off a cliff with king Gorger, but..."

Suddenly her eyes expressed confusion, "but... no... that is impossible, there was never any mention of prince Henry being a...", she stared at him, wide-eyed. "You... are you...?"

Henry exchanged a glance with Thanatos. There was really no use denying it anymore. "I know, I do not look very royal at the moment, after nearly one and a half years in exile, but your memory served you well." Then he hesitated, "Though, what do you mean by... "there was never any mention of prince Henry being a..." – a what?"

"A traitor", she mumbled, still visibly struggling to believe he was who he was.

"What?", Henry's head jolted in her direction. "What do you mean, there was never any mention... Did they not... shout it from all rooftops?" His voice was bitter, but Dalia simply shook her head.

"They said prince Henry died during the quest to fulfill the Prophecy of Gray. That he was killed by king Gorger when he dragged him off the edge of a cliff."

A hundred thoughts reeled in his mind at once. Why hadn't they told the people the truth? Who... even knew it? Luxa and the rest of the questers did, obviously. Vikus and Solovet? The council? Henry suddenly asked himself if Mareth knew.

Dalia snorted a little, averting her eyes. "I assume they kept it secret to not sully the reputation of the oh-so-perfect royal family. A traitor from their midst... if people knew, they would not take well to it."

Henry was still shocked, but he also saw that she had a point. "Well, you know now", his voice was dry. "Feel special yet?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she stared at him intensely, Henry realized she still had trouble believing all of this. Like in a daze she mumbled – "You helped me... with my chores... during the quest."

Henry furrowed his brows. "Yes, what about it? Gregor, Howard, and Luxa did too if I remember correctly."

But Dalia completely ignored him. She was staring at her hands now and Henry saw she was biting her lip.

"She has most likely never been treated kindly by any royalty, exiled or not", Thanatos' voice suddenly spoke from behind him and Henry mustered her – "Was that also why you decided to help us in the end?", he asked on a whim, "because we treated you well during the quest?"

Her head jolted up. "I... I thought I hated you... all of you", Henry was almost certain she referred to royals and nobles, "but then... I kept seeing the Overlander's kind face, hearing you telling me helping is not a big deal, and the queen... the future queen... I would have not even known it was her, had she not worn her crown."

Henry recalled Luxa helping Dalia to make sandwiches and smiled. "Hey, listen, I know Stellovet can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but even she is not as wretched as you think." He remembered the conversation between her and Howard, that he had heard. "She blamed herself, you know?"

Dalia furrowed her brows in disbelief, but Henry continued. "For your betrayal. Back in the prison, she cried, regretting how she had treated you. For all it's worth, she at least learned a lesson from all this."

"She... did?", the young woman sounded unbelieving.

"Oh yes", Henry threw her a short smile. Then his face grew serious and he exchanged a glance with Thanatos. "However... As you know who I am now, I guess that makes our decision easier, as to what to do with you." Henry knew he could never let her back into civilization with this knowledge.

But Dalia clenched her fist determinately. "What... do you mean? I...", she hesitated, "I want you to take me back."

Both Henry's and Thanatos' heads jolted up. "You realize your chances of survival are bigger out here, right?", the flier asked, but Dalia simply bit her lip. "I don't care. I... I want to go back because I want to... I want them to hear the story you just heard. I want to... I want to see my brother one last time, I want to tell him I did it for him, and maybe he will hate me less, then. In any case, I do not want to vanish out of existence just like that, I do not want my brother to ask himself what happened to me for the rest of his life, I..."

Henry was frozen in place, his mind was reeling. She was willing to go back and face the consequences of her actions, all for her brother – and the world to know the truth. Something within him suddenly started burning with frustration and anger, how... why would she... do this?

"I can not let you go back", his voice was cold now, "you know who I am and what I have done. It is out of the question."

Dalia looked at him in shock. "You would... deny me that?"

Henry narrowed his eyes. "I just told you why."

"But", she stammered, "I... I will not tell anyone – what reason would I even have to do so? I will be executed, you said that yourself. I will not... drag you down with me out of spite!" She sounded almost desperate.

"It doesn't matter, I can't risk it!", Henry called, Thanatos nudged him in the side, about to ask why he was so angry, but Dalia beat him to it. "And even IF I told them – what exactly would you lose?" Her tone was equally challenging now.

Henry hesitated and she continued on – "You would deny me to see my brother one last time because you are scared – of what exactly? It's not like they would send the army after you if they found out you were alive! No, in fact, nothing would change for you! You could remain here, in exile, that you are apparently so accustomed to already, and nobody would bother you. So what is your point?!"

Henry stared at her, taken aback by her determination. He knew exactly what his point was – what he would lose. "Yes. And I could never see them... any of them... ever again." His voice was dry and cold.

"So you are willing to trade my last chance to see my family... against THE LOW RISK of losing your own?" She scoffed, "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you royals are all the same after all."

Gregor had just finished packing for his trip back to Regalia. It was the day after they had come back, Stellovet's parents had been overjoyed to have their daughter back, though shocked by what Dalia had done. "Oh well, at least she got what she deserved", York had simply remarked, and then they had dropped the topic. Luxa and Gregor had exchanged glances but remained silent.

Hera and her pups had been well-received as well, they had been permitted to stay for as long as they wished, and had gladly accepted the offer.

Now Gregor and Luxa were standing in the entrance hall, together with Ares and Aurora, in the midst of saying goodbye to York, Susannah, and their children – even Stellovet. It seemed like the little adventure had left its impact on her, Gregor remembered seeing her and Luxa talk after they had arrived here. Maybe things would be better between her and all her Fount-cousins, after this, he thought and smiled.

Then, the door was suddenly flung open. "Here... Death Rider... PHUH...", one of the guards heaved, trying to catch his breath, from most likely running all the way here from the main gates.

That moment a bat soared into the room, above his head, and Gregor saw it was Thanatos. Luxa's face immediately lightened up, as did Stellovet's. Gregor felt he was happy the outcast was alive as well and curiously eyed the black bat, while he flew across the room only to land directly on the huge table in the middle.

The Death Rider slid off his back – he wore a cocky grin and, Gregor blinked a few times, but no, his eyes were not deceiving him – on his head sat a big golden crown. Gregor thought he had seen the crown before, but he couldn't say when or where.

The outcast jumped off the table and strolled over to them. "As you can all see – we are alive and well – and Longclaw is dead. So no reason to worry about him anymore." Gregor felt relief hearing that. One enemy less was good news.

Then, the Death Rider turned to Luxa. "I have something for you", he grabbed the crown, took it off and held it out to her. "We were looting the rats' camp and found it. It was the crown of Gorger – and if I recall correctly, before that, it belonged to your father. It is rightfully yours now."

Luxa stared at him with big eyes and Gregor realized where he had seen the crown before – squeezed onto one of Gorger's ears when they had witnessed the death of the rat king.

She slowly took the crown from him, smiling a little. "Thank you. I will not forget it was you who brought it back to me. And you who slew Longclaw. We all owe you."

The Death Rider smiled a little. "Then you will certainly not mind me calling in that favor now." He waved at Thanatos and all eyes fell on the bat, who had gotten off the table and now took a step aside to reveal –

Every guard in the room instantly drew their swords when they saw the thin figure of Dalia step out of the shadow of Thanatos' wing.

"And that favor is – I'd like you all to lower your swords... and hear her out."

Henry grinned down at the silken glove he was holding, that Stellovet had given him when he had told her Longclaw had destroyed his. It was much too small for him, but she had still insisted on him keeping it. To never forget her. Who'd have thought she had it in her? And all it had taken was being kidnapped by rats, if he had only known that sooner, Henry chuckled.

At first, they had wanted to throw Dalia into the dungeon immediately to have her executed, without a trial and without giving her the chance to explain herself.

It had mostly fallen onto Henry to tell them what she had done, what had been the reason for her actions – and how she had, and was still ready to, atone for it.

It had essentially turned into something like an improvised trial, with York and Susannah as the judges, Dalia as the accused, and Henry as her advocate. He had brought her back without any hope she might live, and even his defense had been all about her being allowed to see her brother one last time and not actually bringing her sentence down – but neither he nor anyone else had foreseen how far the ordeals of imprisonment had left their marks on Stellovet.

After listening to her story and essentially everything she had already told Henry before, Stellovet had stood up. Her father had thrown her a death glare that said "sit down, it is not for you to talk now", but she had simply ignored him.

"You truly suffered so much from what I did?", she said, her face had been grave-serious. Dalia had only nodded and Stellovet had raised her voice again – "In that case, shouldn't I take some of the blame for what she did on myself?"

The room had broken into confused and aggravated murmur and Henry had heard York hiss "Sit back down, you have no idea what you are doing!", but his daughter had still not minded him any attention. She had approached Dalia instead. "I...", she hesitated, "I wish to apologize, in that case." Her head had hung low and Henry didn't recall ever having seen her so humble before. It had not just been him either – at that point, the entire room had been dead-silent.

"I do not want you to die for this", she continued, "I do not want you to die at all. If you die, I will...", she had broken off, but Henry thought she had wanted to say she would lose her only possible girl friend. There weren't many girls her age around to talk to, and he assumed Stellovet had always secretly viewed Dalia as a friend. The fact that she had mistreated her only meant that she hadn't known how to treat a friend previously, not that she disliked her.

Dalia's eyes had been wide and shocked, and nobody had dared protest when Stellovet had addressed her directly. "If I promise to... try and behave better from now on, would you... would you like to stay here? I am sure we can do something for your brother too..."

The young woman hadn't had any words, she just nodded.

Then, York raised his voice finally – "This is absurd, she is a traitor, why would we keep her here? She needs to be executed."

"Because if she hadn't freed the fliers, I WOULD BE DEAD NOW. And so would LUXA, GREGOR, AND HOWARD!", Stellovet screamed. Even her father had been taken aback enough by her tone to remain silent for a moment.

"I want HER TO LIVE!", Stellovet called, putting her hands to her hips. "I want her to live – to be reunited with her brother – and to stay here! If we sentence her to death now, we would condemn her brother to death as well, after all."

It had taken almost the entire day but in the end, Stellovet had at least partially gotten her wish. Dalia hadn't been pardoned, but she had been sentenced to work for Stellovet and the family at the Fount for the rest of her life – free of charge. It was forbidden for her to leave the estate without guards, but she had been allowed to invite her brother to live with them and be cared for as well.

Henry suspected York and Susannah had given in out of love for their daughter and Stellovet had been overjoyed. Henry had seen Howard's sister take her hands, after the trial had been over, and firmly reassure her things would change from now on. She would never suffer from mistreatment or Stellovet's own behavior ever again.

Dalia had glanced at Henry, in a moment when nobody had paid attention, and whispered "thank you... your secret is safe with me for eternity, I promise. You have given me my family back, and I will not take yours from you."

Now, maybe half a day after the trial was over and they had left the fount, he and Thanatos were resting in a cave near the Firelands. Henry threw a glance at his bond, who was eyeing him with half-closed, amber eyes.

"She... went back. She went back voluntarily and risked death just to tell her story, to assure her loved ones she wasn't dead."

As proud as he had been of himself for confronting his past by helping his friends and family as the Death Rider, Henry realized he was still scared of them finding out who he was. And Dalia had... not even hesitated to go back, admit and atone for her mistakes.

He twisted Stellovet's glove in his hand. Was that why he had been so unwilling to take her back with him? Was he... jealous of her?

"She placed her life in their hands... and reaped the gain." Thanatos' voice sounded and Henry turned to him. Those words had sounded awfully familiar. "Was that... from the Prophecy of the Death Rider?"

His bond chuckled. "Who can really tell? If there is hope for her, maybe there is...", but Henry interrupted him immediately. He refused to even think of such a thing, out of fear it would turn out to be a false hope.

"Do not cite the prophecy on me, you hear!", he snarled, before continuing in a much more cheerful tone – "You know what, Death, I think I had enough of humans for a while."

His bond raised a symbolic eyebrow. Henry sighed. Way too many images of Luxa and the others clustered his thoughts, visions, scenarios of them finding out, of their reaction, of his own fate afterward. He needed a break to declutter his mind.

"I... I am itching for an adventure, somewhere...", he pondered, "you know, explore something new – just, go somewhere where nobody knows me, the old me, somewhere where I don't have to pretend constantly, where I don't have to watch my every word and action to not accidentally give myself away. I am tired, Death... tired of... pretending I still belong with them."

Henry remembered a time when he had longed for their presence, their attention, and love. Now he was so agitated he was tempted to throw Stellovet's glove into the fire.

His bond leaped down from the ledge where he had been hanging and eyed Henry curiously. Many questions burned in his eyes, concerns, objections – but all he said was – "And where would this "new land" be?"

Henry grinned. "Oh, I don't know – maybe south of the rat's land, or north of Regalia, west of the Dead Land – or east of the jungle and the citadel. Have you ever been to any of those places?"

Thanatos grinned. "Beyond the maps? No – nobody goes beyond the maps. Nobody sane, that is."

"Well, then it seems like the perfect place for us", was all Henry said, and they exchanged a glance. No words needed.